Building a hybrid outbound system powered by marketing infrastructure, data signals, and operational automation
SMB outbound is uniquely challenging in fintech.
Prospects exist across dozens of verticals; some operate in import/export, some in logistics, and others in entirely unrelated categories but still require cross-border payments. (i.e. translation company, staffing, technical support business)
Eligibility varies by region. Business models vary in complexity.
Contact data is scattered across platforms like ZoomInfo, industry trade shows, niche directories, and import/export databases such as Panjiva. Compounding the challenge, Salesforce and the company’s homegrown product CRM were completely disconnected.
Sales reps could close a lead without marketing ever seeing the lifecycle; marketing could influence awareness without sales ever knowing these signals existed. Both sides were operating blind. This environment required more than improving productivity. It required a hybrid engine. One that merged outbound targeting, marketing signals, nurture, retargeting, and CRM automation into a single structure that could guide the team toward predictable, scalable motion.
Every site visit, every email interaction became part of a multi-touch awareness program that supported the outbound channel rather than competing with it. For example, for prospects who entered our content ecosystem such as downloading resources or joining email lists, I designed a 30-day nurturing sequence anchored in value-added content and industry-specific insights. This sequence pre-qualified interest, educated prospects, and softened otherwise cold outreach.By the time an outbound rep called, the prospect had already seen our brand multiple times and had interacted with content designed to move them from unaware to consideration.
The final layer was operational unification. Through a combination of Zapier, native integrations, and API connection, particularly between Salesforce and the homegrown CRM. I unified lifecycle signals so reps could see account status without asking support or product teams for updates. This integration eliminated the manual gaps that previously slowed follow-up and allowed outbound and marketing to operate on the same customer journey framework. The result was not a set of tools stitched together, but a hybrid outbound engine that combined ICP experimentation, signal intelligence, marketing automation, and sales execution into one cohesive system.
To transform outbound from a manual pursuit to a scalable revenue system, I designed a hybrid automation engine that connected marketing infrastructure with outbound motions at every touchpoint.It began with targeting.
I initially work closely with our Sales Director, we discussed defined niche markets and verticals, mapping out ICP patterns the team previously identified only through anecdotes. Instead of reps sourcing companies individually, we built structured prospect sets inside Salesforce and aligned four pilot reps to test each vertical using Salesloft cadences designed around consistent and custom messaging and follow-up rhythm. This framework turned outbound from an art into a repeatable experiment.
After experiment, each vertical produced clear signals with clean data, conversion behaviors, quality indicators, and we refined our ICP based on real performance instead of intuition. Once the targeting foundation was in place, I finally introduced the marketing layer the team had been missing.
From the moment a company interacted with our website, ZoomInfo automatically identified the visiting organization, mapped their behavior across pages, and triggered weekly intelligence reports sent to sales via Slack and email. Outbound reps no longer worked in the dark; they could see which companies they worked on were warming up, which showed intent, and which required timely outreach. At the same time, retargeting campaigns on Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Taboola ensured that cold prospects did not remain cold.
Designing this engine required deep collaboration across the organization. I worked with the Sales Director to define vertical testing structure, cadence strategy, and feedback loops.
With marketing, I aligned retargeting, nurturing, and content strategy to support outbound patterns rather than inbound funnels alone. With engineering and product, I built bridges between the CRM and the internal platform, ensuring onboarding and account states could influence sales timing and message relevance. With customer support, I identified where prospects struggled during early product interaction, injecting educational content into nurture sequences to reduce friction before reps ever engaged.
These collaborations ensured the system reflected reality—not idealized assumptions—and created a foundation the team could rely on instead of bypass.
Most organizations treat outbound and inbound as separate engines. Two teams with different motions, different data, and different goals. What this project demonstrated was that outbound becomes dramatically more powerful when it is connected to marketing infrastructure, signal intelligence, and lifecycle orchestration. It showed that outbound does not have to be cold.
It can be warmed through content, clarified through signals, structured through automation, and amplified through systematic targeting. It becomes a growth engine when marketing and sales share the same architecture rather than operate in parallel.This hybrid model is now a blueprint for how the company approaches SMB prospecting.
And more importantly, it proved that marketing can meaningfully accelerate outbound—not by owning sales activity, but by building the systems that make outbound scalable, predictable, and far more
